Here is Carpenter Mark’s hands-on review of the Flex 6 ½-inch Inline Circular Saw.
I went from “WTF is this boat anchor” to “this is my go to circular saw.” After the ½ a day it took to change 30 years of circ saw muscle memory to get a handle on this tool, it’s been my go-to ever since.
Top Line Review
- Awkward, maybe. Awesome, definitely
- Innovative, creative, functional
- 6 ½-inch blade cuts 99% of what I cut with a circular saw
- Great battery exchange
- Great included blade
- Belt drive
- Quiet
- Plenty powerful
Real Deal, Hands-On Review
This upright, inline, blade left tool is as innovative as it is derivative (not sure that’s on purpose, to be fair), as it is awesome.
I went from “WTF is this boat anchor” to “this is my go to circular saw.”
After the ½ a day it took to change 30 years of circ saw muscle memory to get a handle on this tool, it’s been my go-to ever since.
Design
Let’s start with the upright design. That was the first and last hurdle. Because the Flex circular saw is so tall—and so small at the base plate—you can’t put it down like a sidewinder or worm drive. You have to lay it on its side or it’ll tip over.
You could hang it from its rafter hook off a saw horse but I’m not much of a rafter hook guy. And I don’t really see using this saw in the rafters of a house frame like a worm drive. I could be wrong. I don’t do that anyway.
The benefits of the upright design are awesome. It puts me in mind of DeWalt’s decade-plus old answer to the worm drive, a top-handled, blade-left saw. I don’t have to bend down as far to cut, say if I’m cutting off the stack on the floor framing walls for a kitchen remodel. It’s great cutting plywood. I’ve plowed through a mile of treated framing with it. And it’s great for long cuts trimming deck boards.
Lines of sight
Lines of sight to the blade are 100% uninterupted for right handed users. And, the 6 ½-inch blade cuts 99% of what a typical 7 ¼-inch cuts for my purposes, similar to the Ridgid Fuego sidewinders. Awesome.
Shoe
The stout shoe looks like magnesium, but it’s aluminum and since you have to go out of your way to drop it on its shoe—see “lay it down” above—mine is true and flat after furlongs of use.
Dust. My word, the unintended consequence of the dust chute makes my day all the time.
The Flex 6 ½-inch circular saw is equipped with a top-mounted port reminiscent of the Porter-Cable, permanently clogged, top-mounted dust chute I dubbed the “chimney.” Flex intrends this as a means to connect the saw to dust collection. I intend it as a means for shooting the dust where I want it to go, because IT SWIVELS!
Dust collection
Dust collection is all well and good, but I’m typically more concerned about snow or tornadoes than dust from a circular saw. Case(s) in point, it’s awesome cutting stair stringers because I can swivel it to shoot the dust off the work as I move the saw left and right.
Wind blowing a certain way? I can swivel the chute accordingly.
Power
Is this the most powerful saw in the world? Hell, no. Do I need it to be? Ibid. Is it powerful enough that I get the cuts I want and the operational comfort that makes my life easier? Hell, yes!
The unit is belt drive, which makes it plush and quiet, something my ears like.
It’s not quite a soft start, but the thing doesn’t jump out of your hand either. It is sensitive. The blade needs to be off the work for it to start or it’ll balk.
Switches, Balance, Storage
The trigger is awesome. The fit and finish is supreme. It’s comfortable to use. The arbor lock and blade change are easy. And—back to the thin shoe and upright design—it stores extremely easily in the box I store it in.
Bluetooth
Sadly, it lacks Bluetooth compatibility, so I can’t have my refrigerator tell my thermostat to tell the saw to cut faster but this whole–derivative or not–is way better than the sum of its parts.
Price
Find the Flex 6 ½-inch Inline Circular Saw with charger and battery at Lowe’s for $249.
